Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...

“Words can be like x-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything.” Readers of Brave New World will be pierced by an activity that asks them to use details from the text to craft a biopoem for one of the characters in Aldous...

Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...

First graders explore wildlife and habitats in the Arizona desert. Throughout a classroom discussion, 1st graders observe pictures of the desert and animals that live there. As they go on a nature walk around the school, students...

The Catcher in the Rye is the focus of a sampler that models some of activities included in a for-purchase packet based on J. D. Salinger's novel.

Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...

Invite your class to reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as vehicles for citizens to voice their opinions. Using an article to gain factual info. about gov't strategies in dealing with current events in Kosovo, students...

Fifth graders read a book.  In this informational text features lesson, 5th graders define captions and their purpose.  Students view an article and discuss the graphic aides that assist comprehending the information...

Using your school's media center, internet research, and a SMART board, 7th graders research a chosen poet and write a research report. Additionally, 7th graders explicate one poem by the poet within their report. Several resource links...

High schoolers role play to solve various foreign policy problems. They explore how various elements of the US foreign policy system operate and practice in conflict resolution.

Students discuss and become aware of the dangers of gender stereotyping and the media's role in perpetuating gender stereotypes. They view magazine advertisements and make entries in their journals after guided discussion.

Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each...

Students identify government officials and resources on a local, state and national level. They determine the structure of local, state, and national governments.

Learners identify 4 branches of law-criminal, civil, consumer, and family. using a newspaper, they locate examples of how laws affect citizens on a daily basis.

Students examine the topic of subsistence farming. They research the future of subsistence agriculture, identify the types and locations of subsistence agriculture, and write about subsistence farming in regards to developing nations and...

The topic of this activity focuses on whether or not Obama was able to convincingly defend his choice of choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. This is considered a controversial or hot topic because it...

Eighth graders write a short autobiographical sketch and produce an author page to be used throughout the year with their writing. They take digital camera photos and produce a PowerPoint slide show with their photos and information.

Young scholars write a five paragraph expository theme. They explain in their theme how the story they read qualifies as science fiction. Students write using all the conventions of English correctly.

Fifth graders explore use of computers. They use technology tools to collect, analyze and display data. Students create and format a document using word processing. They participate in a curriculum-based telecommunications project.

Students explore daily dilemmas students face. They write and illustrate a story book dealing with one dilemma. Students write reviews of their books. They read their books to second grade students. Additional cross curriculum activities...

Second graders write a Halloween story. In this combined technology and writing instructional activity, 2nd graders create a Halloween picture using KidPix, insert it into Microsoft Word, and then write a story to correspond with the...

Students show through art how major human events have changed American Culture. Students write in a journal to keep track of studying that is done during the unit. They also create an oral report.

Second graders explore, examine and study the style of autobiographical writing and the relationship with the author. They rad three different types of autobiographical writings: narrative, poetry and newspaper article. Each student...

Students are introduced to the novel Sing Down The Moon written by Scott O'Dell. Throughout the book, after each chapter is read, class discussions and journal writing is incorporated into the unit.